Onomatopoeia in Hebrew

Pablo Kirtchuk

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Pablo Kirtchuk. Onomatopoeia in Hebrew. 2011. <hal-00602819v2>

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Onomatopoeia in Hebrew

Onomatopoeia is the well-known cross-linguistic phenomenon by

which a linguistic element is phonetically inspired by the sound of
the reality it conveys. Thus, in English metal is said to clank, with the
latter word based on the actual sound, as it is (1) perceived by the
speakers and (2) reproduced according to the constraints of English
phonology. Tsur (2006: 246-7) provides the basic principles
underlying onomatopoeia: There is an open set of infinite noises in
the world Nevertheless, we tend to accept many instances of
onomatopoeia as quite adequate phonetic equivalents of the natural
noises Behind the rigid categories of speech sounds one can
discern some rich pre-categorial sound information that may
resemble natural sounds in one way or other; and it is possible to
acquire auditory strategies to switch back and forth between
auditory and phonetic modes of listening; and second, certain natural
noises have more common features with one speech sound than with
some others.

Were onomatopoeia characteristic only of the early stage of

particularly old languages, we would expect to see it in Biblical
Hebrew (BH) but not in Modern Hebrew; were it typical of childlanguage, we would expect it to have no significant influence on
grammatical and lexical structures; were it to reflect only emotional,
oral and spontaneous imitation of sounds found in trivial situations,
we would expect it to be absent from grammar and from highly
systematized, symbolic, context-independent communication in
general. None of these expectations is fulfilled, however: just like
intonation-prosody, deixis and iconicity, onomatopoeia too is found
in all languages, moreover in their very grammar, and in all their
diachronic stages, synchronic uses and stylistic registers, including
those of Hebrew. Weinstock (1983) is an important study, though
one generation later we no longer consider the biological origin of
language as a taboo. It is a licit question, provided it is explored by
scientifically accurate methods (Kirtchuk 1993; 2007; forthcoming).
Moreover, onomatopoeia plays a key role in the discussion.
Darwin (1872) intuited that the origin of language is in prelinguistic communication founded on prosodic and intonative
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devices based to a large extent on the imitation of natural sounds

(see more recently Maturana 1978). Fnagy (2000) shows the
importance of emotional factors in the way language functions at its
present stage. Bolinger (1949) shows the adequacy found in
language, to some extent, between content and form, i.e., iconicity,
whose best exponent is onomatopoeia, which is also its most
straightforward one as it starts by displaying adequacy between two
expressions of sheer form extra-linguistic and intra-linguistic form.
Language originated as the systematization of permanent
communication in context, in which vocal emissions went along with
deictic gestures, triggered and guided by desires and emotions and
characterized by a high degree of onomatopoeia (Kirtchuk 1993;
2007; forthcoming). Those factors, including onomatopoeia, continue
to permeate language as such particular languages included at
their present stage too.
Hebrew displays onomatopoeia from its oldest layers to the
present day (Horowitz 1960: 1-10; 220-228). Far from being an
amusing mechanism with rather limited presence and influence,
onomatopoeia affects the Hebrew lexicon and grammar deeply,
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widely and consistently. In order to show it, a brief introduction to

the theory of the root system in Hebrew and beyond is necessary.
The triliteral (or 3-P=three-phoneme) structure of the Semitic
root conceived by the Arab grammarians and applied to Hebrew by
Yehuda Hayyuj (10th century C.E.) levels all roots into a single
pattern, at the cost of intellectual operations which necessitate a
high degree of abstraction since they posit a third consonant when
only two or even a single one are actually present. An opposite view,
according to which Hebrew roots are bi-phonemic to begin with, has
been suggested by Leibniz (1672-76 [1980]), Gesenius (1871
[1910]), Knig (1881-97), Halevy-Hurwitz (1913), Bergstrer
(1962), Diakonoff (1965), Ehret (1995) and Bohas (2000). Kirtchuk
(2007; 2009; i.p.; forthcoming) shows the relevance of this view and
enlarges its scope from diachrony to synchrony, from semantics to
cognition and from particular languages to the language faculty.
Indeed, a proper analysis of the alleged 3-P roots in Biblical Hebrew
allows recasting them into 2-P groups whose number is reduced by a
whole order, from 103 to 102. Moreover, in this realm lexicon and
phonology are linked, with certain phonemes or phonemic processes
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frequently used to expand 2-P roots, modulate their basic meaning,

and restrain their application to a particular context or field. These
include: a) reduplication of the second phoneme, or of the two core
phonemes; b) adjunction of a sonorant of the group /l, m, n, r/; c)
adjunction of vowel length represented in some forms of the
paradigm by /w, j/; and d) adjunction of an expressive (guttural =
post-velar) consonant. As the bi-phonemic elements at the basis of
many tri-phonemic expansions often reproduce a natural sound, they
reflect onomatopoeia. It follows that the original root-bases included
a perceived vowel or a sonorant implied by the very process of
imitation which characterizes onomatopoeia. It is from the syllable
so formed that the bi-phonemic element was abstracted (Lipiski
1997: 207-214). A corollary is that the Semitic and indeed the
Afro-Asiatic and even Indo-European roots have the same structure,
a point which enhances Greenberg (2000-2002).
Following is a sample of such bi-phonemic groups whose
onomatopoetic basis, which probably contained a vowel or a
sonorant, is easy to grasp even if the Hebrew forms are not always
those reconstructed for Proto-Semitic (Dolgopolsky 1999), Afro5

Asiatic, or an even more remote ancestor (Greenberg op. cit. and

Dolgopolsky 2008). The examples derive mainly from Biblical
Hebrew, though an occasional lexical item from post-biblical Hebrew
is included as well. The general sense of the bi-phonemic root is
given in bold. In some instances, a possible overall sense is added in
fine. The focus is on verbs, though at times a noun is noted. For a
more comprehensive study, see Kirtchuk (forthcoming).

b/p - z/s: sound made by a swift movement (cf. English buzz):

bzz spoil, plunder, bzy despise, bwz despise > bzbz
misspend, throw away, dissipate (Tossefta Pea 4, 18) , pzz be
agile, excited, pz be in a hurry, pz wanton, reckless.

b/p - //y : sound made by a springing / boiling / inflating fluid

(cf. English boil, bubble):
bw boil, bubble, bb spring ; bubble while drowning
(Yerushalmi Shabbat 14, b), nb spring, br sound made by
burning matter, by cause to swell or boil up, pw blow,

The following is a variant with an occlusive (post-)velar:

p/b - k/q: sound made by an explosion or a violent movement

outwards, including a fluid (liquid or gas) stirring up, flowing,
blowing, gurgling or whirling intermittently:
bky cry, * * neb spring (n.) (hapax legomenon in Job 38.16),
pky trickle, pa vial, flask, hpk overturn, make into a
shambles, baqbq flask, vessel (Modern Hebrew bottle),
pwq bring outwards, * * apq wadi, stream, pq open ones
eyes, pk become lucid, come out from inebriety, pwg
burst in fruit unripe as yet (Cant. 2, 12), Modern Hebrew be out of
validity; pagga (Mishnaic Hebrew) a girl not nubile as yet ;
pag (Modern Hebrew) a premature newborn.

p/b - : sound made by a burst / breaking of a solid (cf. English

burst):
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 p break, pw disperse, scatter, np shatter, pp

break into pieces (Job 16, 12), p cause to break, pl peel,
split, pr press, p break, wound, py open, pm
split open, b cut off, break off, b, bb break out,
vintage, grape harvest.
br lop off (grape clusters), br

-p: sound made by a dripping liquid (cf. English tap):

np drip, flow, spill, pp drip, pp drip, ipp
drip (n.), pp march (with a dripping cadence?) (hapax
legomenon in Isa. 3.16), p rinse, overflow, wash away,
p overflow (n.) (hapax legomenon in Isa. 54.8, presumably a
byform of the preceding root).

k/q/ - t/: sound made by cutting or percuting (cf. English cut):

ktt beat, crush, kt pound, ktb incise (?) > write,
lq pick, glean, qb destroy, ql kill, qm lop off,
cut away, q lop off, cut away, qp pluck, tt break,

/ - m: sound made in reaction or desire of sensual (gustative,

tactile, sexual, etc.) pleasure (cf. English yum, mmm, Fr. miam) and,
by extension, the blushing or glowing associated to it, hence, also,
red color:
mm be warm, ym sexual heat, md covet, desire,

om pubis (Sam. II 2, 23), m auburn, mr be red,

mrmr redden with sorrow or dismay, my heat or
wrath, hence am sun, em wrath, ml take pity,
have compassion, rm show mercy, rm womb, nm
condole, console, emt wineskin (made of leather, often
reddish, as the color of the wine itself).

Onomatopoetic verbs related to body actions include: lqq lick,

lap (water), sneeze. The sound of advancing horses is
expressed by the phrase dahr dahr (Judg. 5.22; see

Later stages of Hebrew display onomatopoeia in the roots

inherited from BH (including most of the above), but they have also
created their own onomatopoetic elements in the typical domains of
animal expression, movement, and natural phenomena. They are
often metaphorized to denote the expression of human emotions (as
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lqlq lick (Yerushalmi Shabbat 11, 3; expanded from ), pkpk trickle

(Tossefta, Sukka 3, 3; expanded from pky id.), zmzm 'buzz,
pp chatter, rr rustle, rush (of paper, fabric or leaves),
mlml mumble, murmur, slsl trill, dd stamp,
trample, kk / kk clear ones throat, produce a slight
cough, qq (variants : qq chatter, kk wag the
tail, krk clatter) clack, clatter > tremble in fear, grgr
gargle, qrqr cackle, gg quack, hmhm coo, sigh,
grumble (expanded from hmy, id., cf. English hum), tqtq
tickle (NB : In Modern Hebrew q is always pronounced as k and
as t while and are pronounced as and [ x]
respectively by most speakers).
The resemblance of many of the Hebrew items to their English
counterparts is striking, which corroborates their onomatopoetic
origin.

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As it can be seen, the verbs created on onomatopoetic roots typically

are built on the patterns C1C2C1C2. Indeed, reduplication and
onomatopoeia are often associated, although the scope of
reduplication is much wider on iconic grounds: it may reflect
repetition at the semantic or pragmatic level, and not only at the
phonological level (for a comprehensive bibliography, see Magnus
1997-2006). It may even be one link between raw and protogrammaticalized communication, as per the following statements:
Reduplication of the syllable in the [Hebrew] word "letsaftsef"
relates it to the transition from the child's babbling stage to the []
use of verbal signs (Tsur op.cit.); By the repetition of the same
syllable children signal that their phonation is not babbling but a
verbal message (Jakobson and Waugh, 1979:196; see also Waugh
1993). Onomatopoeia in Hebrew is iconic, not only inasmuch as it
reflects a direct link between sound and sound and then sound and
meaning, but also inasmuch as it contains iteration, just like (often)
nature.
One cannot refrain from claiming that onomatopoeia helps
comprehend Homo sapiens sapiens not as a context-independent,
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symbolic, arbitrary and rational species, but as one whose members

are capable (as Jonathan Swift had it) of projecting themselves
beyond immediate context, with access to reason and symbols, and
yet who are, like the members of any other animal species, anchored
in emotional, sensitive, iconic, context-dependent representations.

Pablo Kirtchuk

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